A Tale of Heartache
by Kalims
Summary: She'll never have the one thing she always wanted, but she'll always have the one thing she'll always need.


**A Tale Of Heartache**

She stepped slowly towards the locked room, two guards walking by her side. She took a deep breath when thy opened the door. Walking in, into the completely white room, her eyes roamed the place. There was a small window, and a white table in the middle, with a chair on two facing sides. She swallowed and walked towards the chair, before slowly sitting on it.

"Judge Cook has accepted your request; the room will not be surveilled. There is no cameras nor any covert listening devices." One of the guards said before he and his coworker stood by the door, silently.

After a short while, another two guards appeared by the door, with another man. Each guard was grabbing one of the man's arm. They entered. Will tried hard to to look what she felt: panicked. She watched the man come in, and sit on the chair facing her. The four guards left the room and closed the door, but they all stood outside in case of something happening.

the girl could hear the man breathing. She avoided eye-contact. He looked so . . . cold. So cruel. A line was scratched from his left eye all the way across his face to the right side of his chin, forming a terrifying scar that gave him a dangerous halo.

She knew he was staring at her, and that he was growing impatient, yet she did not talk. She was still overwhelmed from what happened in the previous days to her. She was still wondering if that man in front of her was the same man whom she thought had changed.

"Well?" She heard him growl and immediately all the fear and pity she felt for him were gone. She resisted an angry scowl when she looked straight in the eyes of her own father.

"I want to make a deal." She simply said, without a hello, and without breaking under his intense mocking leer.

"Oh really, that's why you came, Will? Well, I'm all ears. What deal are you talking about?" He asked running his hand through his short, messy, red hair, as if she was of no importance.

"I . . . Look . . . I will lie for you in c-court." She said, now really earning her father's attention. "I'll testify for you in court, if you just answered few questions I have." She expected Tony to smirk, but instead he had a confused expression on his face. All he had to do was to answer few of his daughter's childish questions and he would be free again? He thought that there was some kind of a trap, but the honest expression in her eyes were enough to convince him, and he believed her. His only response was a heavy nod and anticipating eyes.

"Did you really kill Serena?" Will asked with a steady, unshaken voice - having practiced nonstop previously. Though she felt a lot of compassion and caring towards the young woman she once called her step-mother.

It had been almost a year since Tony came back to Will's life, unexpectedly bringing a fiancé with him. First she was shocked and a bit hostile towards the two, but then she'd grew closer to both of them, her dad and Serena.

She was just so happy. Will had always wanted to be with her dad. Even though he was absent most of her life, Will always thought about him, felt for him, wished he would be by her side all the time. When he had announced that he will stay in Heatherfield, she was thrilled. Unlike her mother. Since Tony moved, Will and Susan had a lot of fights, and the redhead started to feel distant from her, bitter of her reaction and barely talking to her anymore.

But one week earlier, Will had got stunned, completely surprised, when she heard that Serena was killed - strangled to death - and that her father was the main suspect. Tomorrow was his trial. The court was going to decide whether Tony was guilty or not. If he was found responsible for Serena's death, then he would face a life sentence in jail.

Tony leaned back at his chair and looked around the room, then again fixed his eyes on Will. "I answer this, and you testify for me?"

". . . Yes," Will answered. Tony seemed a bit hesitated, but then, he coldly answered.

"Yeah. I did." The girl scanned her father's expression, and it was totally regret-free. She felt disgust and she stared resentfully at him.

"Why?"

"She was cheating on me."

"Did you see her?" Will asked, not believing that Serena would ever do that. She was a nice woman, and she loved Tony.

"She was starting to spent a lot of time out the house an-"

"Did you see her?" Will raised her tone and looked angrily at him. Tony just grinned.

"I didn't. But I'm sure she was." He stated and his daughter laughed shrilly.

"You're just a jealous, hateful man, aren't you?" He didn't answer, watching her getting more and more tense and edgy. "All of your acts since you came to Heatherfield - your love for Serena, your . . . your quality time with me . . . These were all acts and lies? You were always like this?"

"Serena wanted me to bond with you when she found out I have a daughter. That's why we came to Heatherfield and hung out with you." Will breathed, moving on to the next question, though she was still very outraged that her own father was a liar and a murderer.

"Why did you leave?"

"Leave?"

"Leave me and mom when I was little?" Tony rolled his yes and groaned.

"Why are you asking that question? It's ancient history, Will."

"It's _my_ ancient history! And I want to know why!" She said firmly. Tony rolled his eyes again but gave up. If she wanted to know than he didn't see the reason not to. He just wanted to get out of jail.

"But it might hurt you." He warned.

"Since when you care about hurting me?" She asked sarcastically, yet with bitter truth.

"You're right - I don't. Well if you want to know than here it goes." He leaned forward slowly, seeming serious yet insane. "I left because I hated you." He slowly said, emphasizing each word.

Will tried so hard not to gasp or choke. She tried to fight the forming tears in her eyes. She tried to stay strong and not to care about how this slimy felt about her. He was the last person she should care about. But Tony wasn't done yet. "I was living happily with Susan, until she started to wish for a kid. All this crap about _'Oh, the child would have your eyes' _and _'A baby makes three' _and all these damn fantasies. Finally her wish was granted and you were born. I thought I could live with you, I though you would be my wish, too, but God - you were such burden! You'd follow me around _'Daddy, daddy, daddy' _and cling to me like a spider. Shit, sometimes I just wanted to grab you and throw you against a wall or something. So tiring!" He yelled at Will, instantly turning the lump in her throat into a loud strong shout.

"Shut the hell up!" She stood up, her voice was so full of anguish that her father barely recognized her. A superior smirk on his face, he goaded:

"This is just all your fault! I hated you so much, still do. Now that I think about it, I should've killed Serena from the minute she asked me to make up with you and start all over. I had forgotten how annoying pitiful you are. Maybe even Susan regretted having you. I remember the sneer on her face when she first saw you." He was provoking her, hurting her, and he knew that. But Will wasn't going to grant him satisfaction.

All of the anger she felt, she shook it away after she told herself a million times that he was not worth it. He was lying. He did hate her, she was sure of that now, but her mom did not. Her mother loved her deeply, despite the arguments and despite the coldness. Will wasn't going to leave a bastard ruin what she knew was true and deceive her.

She took a deep breath and calmed herself. She was sure that if she opened her mouth now, she'd scream, so she sat down again and met his eyes. She was going to show him that, she didn't give a damn about what he felt about her.

"I despise you." She muttered loud enough for him to hear her, fighting back the urge to cry because of the newly found fact that her father had never loved her or care about her.

Tony didn't answer. His smirk faded as he felt the true and pure resent he was receiving from her. He went silent, and when he met her eyes, he lightly winced. Immediately clearing his throat, Tony spoke. "Well, um . . . Is that it? You're done?" He asked, and she quickly came back to herself, regaining control over her feelings.

"Did you love mom?" He looked at her and thought of an answer.

"I'm not the same guy anymore." That was the only truthful answer he could find. Will stared at him for a second, and then she bit her lip and said.

"You look at me, but you don't like what you see, dad. Just tell me, answer the last question, do you wish I was never born?" She asked, finally in a quivering tone.

"A lot of things would have happened if you weren't born. A lot of nasty things. So I guess I'm going to say yes." Will didn't burst out crying - she would not. "W-Why do you even care? I thought you hated me." _I said I despise you, never said that I hate you, _Will thought but never said. Instead, she went all nonchalant.

"Well, okay. That w-was all o-of it. I'm going now." She said as she stood up and left the chair.

"Hey, are you still gong to lie for me? Even after what I said?" He asked surprised.

"Deal's a deal." She sighed before walking away and getting out of the room. Tony looked at her as she disappeared. He felt a small pain in his heart, he felt sad. He wanted to say something before Will went, but he stopped himself. He was not going to sacrifice his freedom. No way . . . It was too late anyway.

The next day, Will did what she promised she would. She testified for him. And though her statement that he was innocent wasn't enough to consider him free of suspicion, because of all the other evidences including the scar that Serena probably gave him while defending herself before he finished her, he was set free. Will claimed that she was with him out of the house when Serena died, and there was no one who could prove otherwise.

Will knew that she helped a mad man out of jail, but she had to know the answers to her questions, the questions she longed to have answers for, and that was the only way she would have done it. Though the young redhead wasn't the same since she had that talk with her father. Being an unwanted child was truly hurting her. And yes, she admitted to herself that she actually never hated her dad. Why he loved to hurt her? She loved him so much that she couldn't even defend herself when he started to talk down on her. What did she do do deserve her neglect? Another question she had on mind, and it was breaking her and tearing her heart to pieces whenever she thought about it: Why . . . Why couldn't he love her?

Will didn't ask her dad why did he hate her from the first place. It can't be because of what he said, that she was attached to him and followed him around. Because that was what all babies did. It was something _she_ caused that made him hate her. It was her fault . . .

She came back from school one day, few days after her dad was free and moved out of Heatherfield, and headed towards her room. He mother was in the house, and as soon as she saw her, she went to her and grabbed her shoulder and looked straight in her eyes. "Will, are you okay?" She asked in a voice full of comfort and caring. Will smiled and nodded, though she was confused why she was asked this.

"Yeah mom, I'm perfectly fine."

"You're dad doesn't love you, Will." Susan spoke these words gently, but Will felt them as if her mother had flung knives at her that had buried themselves in her heart. Why did her mother just say that?

"I . . . I know that." She spoke through lips that were suddenly cold.

"But do you know that I love you more than anything, Will? You're the best thing that had ever happened to me!" Susan unexpectedly said as tears formed in her eyes. Will looked at her, stunned of what she just said. Suddenly, a small, sad smile was drown on her face before she embraced her mother and held her the tightest she can.

She didn't know why her mother said that. Maybe it was a mom's sixth sense, but Will didn't care why she had said it - she knew that it was true. She had her mother's love, and so she didn't care of her father's. Her mom didn't regret ever having her. Will cherished that fact.

Susan held her daughter gently in her arms as the teen cried out the knot of sadness and abandonment and anger that had for so long bound her heart.


End file.
